Macworld Expo in San Francisco is still on our thoughts, as we pass along our traditional Macworld Superlatives article, looking at the coolest of the cool. Also this week, Jeff Carlson delves into the Apple’s Mac OS X interface preview – register your opinion of the Mac OS X user interface in this week’s poll! In the news, we cover the releases of FileMaker Pro 5 Unlimited, WebSTAR 4.2, SoundJam 1.6, and DiskWarrior 2.0.
FileMaker Pro 5 Unlimited Ships -- FileMaker Inc. has shipped the English language version of its $1,000 FileMaker Pro 5 Unlimited, which removes FileMaker Pro 5.0's little-loved licensing restrictions and ten-Internet-users-in-twelve-hours limit, and adds the FileMaker Web Server Connector, a Java servlet that permits databases published via FileMaker Pro 5 Unlimited to be served via popular high-end Web servers like StarNine's WebSTAR, Apple's AppleShare IP, Apache, and Microsoft's IIS
Ballmer is Microsoft's New CEO -- TidBITS doesn't usually cover executive shifts at companies other than Apple, but we should note Bill Gates promoted Steve Ballmer to Microsoft's CEO position last week
WebSTAR 4.2 Optimized for G4s -- StarNine Technologies has unveiled WebSTAR Server Suite 4.2, the latest version of its integrated collection of Internet servers
SoundJam 1.6 Adds MP2, Hierarchical Playlists -- Casady & Greene has shipped SoundJam 1.6, a free update to the company's popular MP3 player and encoder
DiskWarrior 2.0 -- Alsoft has introduced DiskWarrior 2.0, the latest version of its data recovery and directory optimization tool. In addition to its lauded directory optimization, fully functional preview feature, and near-magical CD-ROM that can start up a wide range of Mac systems (see "Fighting Corruption with Alsoft's DiskWarrior" in TidBITS-486), DiskWarrior 2.0 adds DiskShield, a new feature that checks the validity of any directory information being written to or read from your disks
Poll Results: Apple of Your iFuture? Although many Macworld Expo attendees were expecting Steve Jobs to make hardware announcements (even the attendees not swayed by rumor sites), the major news turned out to be Apple's suite of new Internet services such as iTools and iCards
At each Macworld Expo, we endeavor to locate a singular example of what the show represents: a product or clever metaphor that perfectly encompasses the deeper currents of what it means to float in a sea of 70,000+ Mac enthusiasts
One of the few surprises at last week's Macworld Expo in San Francisco was a first look at the new Mac OS X user interface. Although the new operating system was announced in mid-1998 and its technical features (like preemptive multitasking and protected memory) are known, those things don't have the potential to stir up the ire and interest of Mac users quite so much as the notion of tampering with the Mac OS look and feel.
So when Steve Jobs said that he was going to show off the Mac OS X user interface, which he claimed has been one of the best-kept secrets within Apple, I perked up